“The executive order President Obama signed today sends a clear signal that violating our nation’s labor laws is unacceptable and will have real consequences. By ensuring that only companies with a history of complying with federal workplace laws receive federal contracts, today’s action will reward employers who play by the rules, incentivize fairness and appropriate employer conduct, and help ensure that millions of workers are not subject to harmful or unlawful treatment. This is good news for workers, taxpayers and the nation.

More than one in five people in this country is employed by a company that contracts with the federal government. But until now, there has been little oversight to ensure that federal contracts are not awarded to companies that have broken federal workplace laws, such as the Family and Medical Leave Act, protections against mandatory arbitration for victims of sex discrimination, and laws regarding wages and hours, health and safety, civil rights and more. This executive order will make it harder for that to happen by promoting accountability. And it will keep billions of taxpayer dollars from being used to condone unlawful employer behavior.

We commend the president for once again taking action to strengthen the nation’s federal workplace laws and protect America’s workers. No worker should have their rights undermined or disregarded, especially not at the hands of a company that contracts with the federal government. This action will have a tremendously positive effect on the federal contractor workforce and sets an important example for employers across the country.”

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The National Partnership for Women & Families is a nonprofit, nonpartisan advocacy group dedicated to promoting fairness in the workplace, access to quality health care and policies that help women and men meet the dual demands of work and family. More information is available at www.NationalPartnership.org.